Building construction



Dec. 4, 1928.

A. F. BEMIS BUILDING CONSTRUCTION FiledDeC. 2, 1925 ,wf @Law/w diff/ym Patented Dec. 4, 1925.8;

ALBERT F. Biiiinsor NEWTON, MAssAcHUsE'rrs, As'siGNoR 'ro 'Burris iNDus'iRiEs, Q INC.,y or B osToN, MAssAciiUsiiTTs, A coRroRATioN or DELAWARE.v

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.'

' `Application ledDecembei 2, 1925. Serial No. 72,674.2.4

' In my copending application No. 33,173 filed September 12, 1925, :I have shown va-v rious means for joining 'columnarunits to "loi'm the basic struct-ure of the Walls, floors, roofs, etc. of a building, `While in my. co,- peiidiiigapplications Nos. 72,673 and.72,678

iiled of evendate herewith I have shown furl ther means for combiningunits for such a purpose. ,K l s The present invention relates to similar subject matter, more particularlyto an` advantageous method of joining columnar unitsl to adjacent parts of the structure and ot aligning these members. VOne aspect of the present invention concerns the provision oi projecting means upon a frame member to iiiterlocl: With recessesor. slots in standardized tubular units of any of thevarious forms described in my copending applications Nos. 72,676 and 72,675. l Y

A further aspect of this invention concerns the application of rangers to recessed por-V tions of these unitsat'theiriipper ends.

The novel means provided for securing the,

ends lof the units 'provides a methodfor holding `them againstrtransverse movement, of aligning them accurately, and oi keying them to the surrounding structure with the minimum expense and Vrequire-ment for accurate workmanship. lVhn` usedin conjunction with a foundation or theflike vsuch a. method provides a joint capable ot' exeludingvmoisture at this point, While when used @with incline'dunits, such a method vwill also Aaid in holding the units against endwise movenient.y vIi desired means such as'slots may be provided oii'tlie projecting portion of the frame member to hold the units at desired. intervals. This mode of incorporating'standardized units in a". building structure has the particular advantage that the portions "of the combination requiring Vaccurati-i ivorl'- manshipl canbe prepared in advance in` a manufacturing establishment' and can then be readily assembled in situ by comparatively unskilled labor.'

lVIa-ny further advantages of this invention will be apparent to thoseslrilled in the art, upon a reading oi: the subjoined description and claims in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In thedrawingsz"A K Fig. l is a cross-section of the side Wall and a portion of the floors and rooiI of a building; i

a' modified `'form of. foundation;

invention, Adisclosed, more' v in the slots 5 at the upper end of the units 1 Fig. 2 isa perspective viewof a series of Wallunitsjwgr4 1,

Fig. 3 is a perspective View kof a portion of Fig. Lis asimilar view ola further modil-ieation'of my invention;

Fig. `5 is a view similar to Fig.. 2 of a series .of slightly `different Wall units; I

Fig. 6 is a detail view ofa modification Voff my invention and I; .v Y Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 2, of a slightly different construction. .Y

In accordance With the embodiment of my particularly. iii

Figsxl, 2and 5, a'foundation 2 ispoured or 70 otherwise formed with the elongatekey inem- :ber inset in the upper surface thereof.. The 4member 3, mayl be olf-Wood'orlight cementi.- -tious Inat'eiialand basa lower portion set-in 4a depression elv in the foundation 2 and an upper portion ,Whichis adaptedto be engaged in slots 5 formed in the ends of the structural *i units.1. 4"These structural units lmay beof the tubular form. described inmy copending application No. 72,678 or they maybe of `numerous other forms, suoli as illustrated in Fig. 5y or described in my other above identified applications. To lform ajwalhthe units l are' dropped in yplace 'With Vthe slots engagingtheliey member, thus holdingthem .85 against transverse movement and lsubst-antially aligning them, land @also constituting means for preventing theseepage of moisture above the base member.l The member 3 -may have slots 7 inthe upper tace thereofv` (F ig.' 5) suitahlyfspaced toengage'the .Walls of the units ll .the slots 5 and 71together' forming -meaii's for interlocking the,Y unitsv and the foundation'tohold-thev former against movement. The slots .5 intli'eends of the tubular 05 units may be preformed at? the actoi'ylv-vor manufacturing, establishment Where the uni-ts are made. The member 3 may be similarly produced to interlit with Vthe Walls of the .units 1 Al so that, when a structural: Wall or the. like is to vbe erected', these parts cansbe easily :as-

sembled; y 'l In the uppe'rendsof the structural. units `slots 5 are providedwhich'are preferablyor` the same size: as th'os'ein the lower endsof the :units s o that upon assembly the ends 'of-the units Ymay be readily interchanged, although, if desired, the dimensions of the slots may be varied to suit individual conditions. Fitted Tl .j

' roof fabrication, are notched at 16 to engage `l{ey'member 15 `whichserve's notonly to align is an -elongaterange'r 6 which yisV similar toV the key-member in the lower slots. When desired, such a ranger may also have'slots, like those in the keylnember ld, to. engage the` A loorl'8 of any'desired form or a roof may be built adjacent the tops of the units 1, and preferably has l a concrete girt connected thereto above the strueturalunits 1. Aportion of the ranger 6 is extended upward into the girt 19, `thereby holding the structural 4unitsto that member. At either side ofthe lran-gere lare cappingl strips 13 covering -the i ends of the units l1, with openings Vat intervalstherealong, if desired, to permit the illling of certain tubular unitswith concrete.

'I'he outer-portions--of the units 1 may be covered with a layerA ofV cementitious'material 11 or with anyfinishin'gma-terial.

If it is desired'to add another story, a

anotherseries ofunits. fIf it is desiredto form a pitched roof Such as illustratedinV Fig. 1,'akey member lis inset inthe upper girt 14 inthe manner that has already been described;` this key-member mayhave an outer bevelled surface 17` with *an inclination approximating:thepitch of the roof.V The units 1*, which are to form the basis `of the the tubular -unitsf butalso to aid in` keeping them from endwise rnmlement..V As a conse-V quence of such a vfunction thislkey member 15 is preferably somewhat stiffer than key member 3 previously described.

` 1 Fig.'3` shows asli htly `different form'` of my invention whereinthe key member 3 is integrally least,` inthe upperA surface of a foundationor girt 19 and is adapted to eni gagesliots-of structural units in the manner described above. If` desired. transverse slots may bemolded in this integral key member.

Fig. 4 shows a metal key member '17 with a `beaded lower edge 18 adapted tov be inset in a concrete foundation "and be similarly engaged in` slots 'in structural units. ,Such `a member is adapted `to form a permanent weather-tight Vjointfand readily permits the formation of slots 7, such as have beendescribed above. l i

Fig. `fishowsa means vof combining the ranger and the capping strips for the tubular units 1, the cappingstrip20fand Vranger 21 beingsecured together in a runit 'and .fitted upon the upper endsof the struc-v tural unitsi ina single-operation. With this arrangement fthe strip 20 is preferably a sin lgle piece extendingthle` full width ofthe units l and theranger 21 does not project into the moisture.

key member 3, `whichis similar' to that previously" described as incorporated `in the base 2, is inset in the girt 9-to engagethe lower ends ofY tops of girt member `.but is secured Vto'fthe `lower surfacev of the capping `strip or formed inte.- grally therewith. i

An alternative mode of construction is illustratedin Fig. 7, thebase 22 having a raised portion 23 substantially equal to the distan-ce between the. opposite flat Walls 28 and 29 of structural units 31. The transverse walls 35 of theseunits are cut away at 25 to permit the inner and outer walls 28 and 29 lto straddle the raised portion 23. L-shaped metal strips 33 preferably vare `inserted bertweenlthe' portion 23 of the base and the walls `28 and 29 `to vprotect the construction against At their upper `ends the outer walls 29 are extended upwardly to constitute a form` for the Lpo'uringof a concrete vgirt` Vmember 39, `which may be engaged with a ranger 6 of the type previously describedf Obviously the embodiment of Vmy inven-l tion disclosed in this application may be f combined with the `various lunitsand modes of construction described in my copending applications, as1 wellv as `with many vcommon and conventional forms of building construcftion now known tothe art, in a wide variety of ways to suit individual` conditions.

I claim: Y 1. In abuilding construction, means `for securing elongate juxtaposed tubular units.

kto a frame member consisting of anelongate ykey memberinset in the frame member and extending into slots in the endsor` walls of the units and being slottedto engage said walls.

2. In a building construction including a frame member and a series of juxtaposed tu- .bular units, a narrow elongate portion projecting iromsaid frame member and having slots which `engage withV the ends of the walls oftheftu'bularunits.

3. In a building construction includinga members.

. 4. Ina building construction including a frame member and a series of` juxtaposed tubular units, an elongate `key portion projecting from said frame member and being slotted` to engage with `the `ends of certain walls of the tubular members, certain walls of the tubular members being slotted to engage with the key portion of the frame member. V

Signed by me at Boston,` Massachusetts,

`this 30th day of October, 1925.

ALBERTF. BEM1s. 

